Kenny Barron STYLE

5 Ways to Sound Like
Kenny Barron
In a genre chock full of keyboard legends, Kenny Barron stands out as one of
the most revered and in-demand jazz pianists on the planet. With his eloquent
touch and fervent swing feel, Barron’s recorded and live work still soar well
into his fifth decade as an artist. Many a transcription and book have been
written on Barron’s signature sound, but in this lesson I will touch on just a
few of his licks and tricks that sent me on my musical way when I studied with
him years ago at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. 1.
The Kenny Baron Minor 11 Chord Example
1. The Kenny Baron Minor 11 Chord
Example 1 illustrates a sonority that Kenny uses so often: Known in jazz circles as
the “Kenny Barron Minor 11 Chord,” it’s a lush minor chord voicing built by
stacking two perfect fifths in the left hand, and doing the same in the right hand,
beginning a minor second above the left hand’s top note. Once you get the sound
and feel for the voicing in your head and hands, move it around into all 12 keys so
you can use it whenever inspiration strikes. You can hear this sonority (along with
variations of it) on Kenny’s song “Spiral.”
2. Descending Altered Chord Licks
Kenny uses a plethora of signature keyboard licks in his solos, but the descending
altered chord lick seen in Ex. 2a was one of the first I heard him play. It’s simple in
its construction, but when played with a forward sense of swing, it can be a potent
solo device. To play this lick over an altered dominant chord (a dominant chord
with altered tension tones like raised or flatted ninths or thirteenths), play a
dominant “shell” voicing in your left hand (here I’m in the key of C using the third
and seventh of C7), and in your right hand play the following scale degrees
descending: #9, b9, b13, 3, #9, b9 (spelled here enharmonically for reading ease).
Ex. 2b shows the same lick in the key of F.
3. More Descending Altered Chord Licks
Ex. 3a is a variation of the descending lick seen in Ex. 2a. To play this lick over an
altered chord in the key of C, again play a third and seventh “shell” C7 voicing in
your left hand and the following scale degerees: #9, b9, root, seventh, b13, 3, #9,
b9. Ex. 3b shows the same lick in the key of F. Again, getting the notes right is
only a part of the goal here. To swing like Kenny Barron, always pay attention to
how the notes are played, instilling a forward sense of swing in each of them. (To
practice this, try playing licks and lines like those in this lesson alongside a
drummer’s ride cymbal or a metronome, locking your eighth notes together).
4. Blues Licks
One of the hallmarks of Kenny’s sound is his ability to tackle chord changes with
solo lines that swing yet simultaneously make perfect harmonic and melodic sense.
Ex. 4 illustrates a typical Barron solo line over the first four bars of a standard
blues in the key of F. Notice the contour of the line is almost horn-like in design,
deftly navigating both chord and passing tones in a logical way. Try building your
own solo lines over blues and other standard chord progressions, paying attention
to their shape and swing.
5. Colorful Chords
Another way to sound like Kenny Barron is to find colorful ways to voice your
chords. The two-bar phrase in Ex. 5 is a device he uses in one of his most affecting
compositions, entitled “Song for Abdullah.” With a gentle keyboard touch, Barron
takes what could be a boring Db to Ab sequence and gives it life by adding colorful
tensions and arpeggiating chord tones in the bass to impart movement and life to
the progression. Try moving this I 6/9 to Vmaj7#5/ii around into different keys so
you can use it in your own chording explorataions.
Bio
“One of the things that makes Kenny Barron’s playing so impactful is his rock-
solid sense of time, which is simultaneously swinging and laid back ” says singer,
songwriter, pianist, and Keyboard editor-at-large Jon Regen. Regen’s latest album
Stop Time was produced by Mitchell Froom and features members of Elvis
Costello’s band The Imposters. Find out more at

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5 Ways to Sound Like

1. The Kenny Baron Minor 11 Chord

3. More Descending Altered Chord Licks

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